BIONOMICS,DISTRIBUTION, HOST RANGE ,SYMPTOM OF DAMAGE AND MANAGEMENT OF PAPAYA MEALY BUG R.Varshini APAC

1. BIONOMICS,DISTRIBUTION,
HOST RANGE ,SYMPTOM OF
DAMAGE AND MANAGEMENT
OF PAPAYA MEALY BUG
PRESENTEDBY
R.VARSHINI
2017018094
AEN 302 PESTS OF HORTICULTURAL CROPS AND
STORED PRODUCTS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT[1+1]

2. PAPAYA MEALY BUG
• COMMON NAME :
Papaya mealy bug
• SCIENTIFIC NAME :
Paracoccous
marginatus
• FAMILY: Pseudococcid
ae
• ORDER: Hemiptera

3. DISTRIBUTION
• Native to Mexico & Central America.
IN TAMILNADU :
• Papaya mealybug has caused SEVERE
DESTRUCTION in agricultural and
horticultural crops ever since its first
report from Coimbatore in 2007.
• The insect assumed the status of a major
pest in 2009 . Coimbatore, Erode, Tirupur
and Salem districts of Tamil Nadu.

4. BIONOMICS
• Papaya mealybugs are most active
in warm, dry weather.
• Females have no wings, and move
by crawling short distances or by
being blown in air currents.
• Females usually lay 100 to 600
eggs.
• Eggs are greenish yellow and are
laid in an ovisac sac that is three
to four times the body length and
entirely covered with white wax.
• The ovisac is developed ventrally
on the adult female

5. BIONOMICS
• Egg-laying usually continuous over a
period of one to two weeks.
• Eggs hatch in about 10 days, and
nymphs or crawlers begin to actively
search for feeding sites.
• Adult males may be distinguished from
other related species by the presence of
stout fleshy setae on the antennae and the
absence of fleshy setae on the legs.
• Females have three instars whereas
males have four instars.
• Males have longer development time
(27-30 days) than females (24-26 days)
at 25±1 0 C, 65±2 %RH and 12:12 (L:D)
photoperiod.

6. BIONOMICS
• Adult females attract the males with sex
pheromones.
• Under greenhouse conditions, reproduction
occurs throughout the year.

7. HOST PLANTS
• CULTIVATED AGRICULTURAL AND
HORTICLTURAL CROPS:
 Redgram ,Silk cotton ,Cotton,Hibiscus,Jatropha,
Tapioca, Mulberry, Guava,Tomato,Brinjal ,Teak ,
Tulasi.
• OTHER WEED HOST PLANTS:
 Abutilon indicum, Euphorbia hirta, Phyllanthus
niruri , Parthenium hysterophorus, Tridax
procumbens….and so on..

8. DAMAGE SYMPTOMS
• Papaya mealybug infestation
appears on above ground parts
on leaves, stem and fruits as
clusters of cotton-like masses.
• The insect sucks the sap by
inserting its stylets into the
epidermis of the leaf, fruit and
stem.
• While feeding, it injects a toxic
substance into the leaves,
resulting in chlorosis, plant
stunting, leaf deformation or
crinkling, early leaf and fruit
drop, and death of plants.

9. DAMAGE SYMPTOM
• The honeydew excreted by the
bug results in the formation of
black sooty mould which interferes
in the photosynthesis process and
causes further damage to the
crops.
• Heavy infestations are capable of
rendering fruit inedible due to the
buildup of thick white waxy
coating.

10. FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIGH
POPULATION BUILDUP
• With rapid development, high survival rate, and
enormous reproductive capacity, P . marginatus
population could potentially reach a high level.
• Wax layer and waxy fibres over the ovisac and body
of mealybug nymphs and adult females protect
them from adverse environmental conditions and
routine chemical pesticides.
• Availability of alternate hosts / weeds around fields
not cared by cultivators.
• Movement of crawlers through air, irrigation water
or farm equipment helps in fast spread of the
mealybug from infested field to healthy fields.

11. • No phytosanitation: free movement
of infested fruits, vegetables and
other material between States.
• Intensive cropping system.
• Wider acceptability of hosts by
papaya mealybug and its subsequent
adaptability on them.
• Ant association: providing
protection from parasitoids and
predators and aiding in dispersal of
the pest.
• pruning of mulberry crop provides
sufficient time for migration and
settlement of crawlers from the old
infested crop to the pruned crop.

12. MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
• Mealybug control often involves the control of
attendant ants that are important for the
proper development of mealybugs.
• Without the ants, mealybug populations are
small and slow to invade new areas and the
field would be free of a serious mealybug
infestation.
• Therefore, management of mealybugs often
includes the control of ant species.

13. MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
• Plant protection products are of limited
effectiveness against mealybugs because of the
presence of waxy covering of its body.
CULTURAL AND MECHANICAL
• Monitoring and scouting to detect early presence
of the mealybug
• Pruning of infested branches and burning them
• Removal and burning of crop residues
• Removal of weeds/alternate host plants like
Hibiscus, Parthenium etc. in and nearby crop

14. • Avoiding the movement of planting material from
infested areas to other areas
• Avoiding flood irrigation
• Prevention of the movement of ants and
destruction of already existing ant colonies
• Sanitization of farm equipment before moving it
to the uninfested crop
• Application of sticky bands or alkathene sheet or
a band of insecticide on arms or on main stem to
prevent movement of crawlers

15. Biological control
• Natural enemies of the papaya mealybug
include Cryptolaemus montrouzieri, ladybird
beetles, lacewings, hover flies, Scymnus sp.
and certain hymenopteran and dipteran
parasitoids.

16. • In the nature, lepidopteran
predator, Spalgis epius
(Lycaenidae) is a well known
representative of carnivorous
butterfly feeding on various
species of
• If the activities of natural
enemies are not observed, use
of botanical insecticides such
as neem oil (1 to 2%), NSKE
(5%), or Fish Oil Rosin Soap
(25g/litre of water) should be
the first choice .

17. Chemical control
• Locate ant colonies and destroy them with
drenching of chlorpyriphos 20 EC @ 2 .0 ml/litre of
water.
• Spray profenophos @ 2 ml / litre on stumps
followed by second spray, 15 days after pruning,
with dichlorvos @ 2 ml /litre along with
azadirachtin (10000 ppm) @ 1 ml /litre. Stickers
should always be added in spray solutions.
• Avoid repeating the use of the same chemical
insecticide as there are chances for development
of resistance in the pest.

18. REFERENCE
• https://icar.org.in/files/Papaya%20MealybugN
CIPM.pdf.
• http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/fruit/me
alybugs/papaya_mealybug.htm.
• https://www.cabi.org/isc/FullTextPDF/2016/2
0163311786.pdf

19. PRESENTEDBY
R.VARSHINI
2017018094,
3rdyear , B BATCH